Hides in Crazy
by Burningbridges
Summary: A girl finds herself stuck in the Naruto-verse, suddenly the sensei to a rogue team of ninja. Already confused by her problem back home, she's now a mentor to teens, the love interest of someone really obnoxious and the target of evil. Will she get home?
1. It Begins

_This is my first time ever posting anything under Naruto – if you know me, you know that I write mostly about Resident Evil –_

_This is my first time ever posting anything under Naruto – if you know me, you know that I write mostly about Resident Evil – but it's not actually the first Naruto thing I've worked on. A couple years ago, I was doing a fan comic with a friend who I need to get back in touch with, and after that, I was working on a story that never really went anywhere. Even though I have a lot of stories to update, I decided to start this one because I'm too depressed to work on my other stuff much, and I just got back into Naruto after a long hiatus. Actually, I feel like co-writing this… So if anyone would be interested in helping me write this, drop me a line._

_Anywho, this is the story of a girl getting trapped in the world of Naruto at a particularly bad point in her life, and my only real concept thus far for this story is that she adventures around looking for a way out and getting into trouble – and if somebody offers to co-write, she also meets someone else who gets stuck there and they work together. The introduction, granted, isn't the greatest… I wrote it quickly last night when I was in a hurry and very tired. But the next chapter will hopefully be better. Also, the title will explain itself, probably in chapter two._

_--_

Hides in Crazy

By BurningBridges

Chapter One: It Begins

--

Journal Entry:

Last night was a normal night… I played video games, I talked to my best friend on the phone… And moped around the house like I've done 24/7 for the last several months.

I spent some time wondering what's going on in my life right now, and why everything is so incredibly messed up. Then my severe depression led me to reading manga to take my mind off it… So what the hell happened?

One minute I'm reading _Naruto_, and listening to the radio while my cat sleeps on my stomach, and I started to doze off to the sound of rain splattering on the roof…

The next thing I know, I wake up in the middle of the freakin' woods… I have no idea where I am, or even if I am somewhere at all… There aren't any familiar landmarks… Or really any landmarks period. Did somebody drug me and move me in my sleep??

I don't know what to do… I don't know where I am… And I'm not dreaming.

End of Journal Entry

--

She stuffed the piece of paper and pen back in her pocket, feeling she had passed as much time as was possible when trying to figure out where the hell you are without freaking out.

"Oh… What on earth is going on?"

There was suddenly a rustling-scraping sound nearby and three people – kids, actually, probably no older than fifteen; two girls and one boy – came towards her on the dirt road where she'd been stranded.

"Look!" one of the girls said, "Maybe she could help us."

She stared at the three as they approached.

"Hi," the girl who spoke before said with a smile. "We were wondering if you could help us."

She was silent for a moment, having no clue what was happening. "Err… I'm sorry?"

"Maybe you should explain to her what we're talking about first?" the boy suggested, and the girl pretended to ignore him.

"We wanted to become ninja, but we… didn't quite meet requirements. So we decided to form a rogue band of our own. The only problem is, we could really use someone older to mentor us… Be a Sensei, of sorts. We've asked a lot of people, and they always turn us down."

"Probably because they were wandering vagrants," the other girl added, rolling her eyes.

"Would you be interested?"

She was completely lost at this point. First she wakes up somewhere she's never seen before, and next, this. Was she in…? No, it couldn't be… Could it? "Uh… I don't know the first thing about being a ninja…" she managed to say through her confusion.

"Well, guess that's yet another one down," the boy said with a sigh.

"She didn't say no yet," the girl said in response. "Please? It's beginning to look hopeless for us."

She thought for a moment. "I have no idea what I'm doing right now, but I can't refuse a request for help. I don't know what I could possibly teach you, but sure, I'll see what I can do."

"Alright!" the three cheered happily.

Wow… What a weird place this was… Could she really be where she was beginning to suspect she was?

Well, the first thing to do anywhere when you meet someone new is introduce yourself… And since no one here knew her and she didn't want to stick out like a sore thumb with an American name, she quickly thought back to a Korean soap opera she liked to watch…

"My name is Na Misuk."

Yeah, Misuk. That was a good name.

--

_Well, that's chapter one for you… A little weird, but not as bad as it sounded when I scribbled it down last night._

_I realize that Misuk's real name is never mentioned, but it's a writing technique I was always fond of that is supposed to make the reader relate more to the character. And there will be a lot of descriptions of all the characters so far in the next chapter, as well as the teenager's names. And the reason why Misuk talks about being so depressed will eventually come out… I want to sort of build up to it a bit. _

_And Misuk is named after a couple characters on a Korean soap opera I watch called "Likeable or Not". It's a fantastic show, and since I couldn't think of any Japanese names I wanted to use, I went with that. _

_Okay, that's it for now. Leave me a review and let me know what you think! And if you're interested in co-writing, let me know!_


	2. Bar Brawl

_Okay, here's chapter two_

_Okay, here's chapter two. We get to know the characters, there's some light foreshadowing, a rather weird fight, and an odd ending. And, so you know, Hsawaknow is actually 'Wonka Wash' backwards – I was watching Willy Wonka Sunday night when I was working on this, and Mrs. Teevee's question of 'Is that Japanese?' when Wonka says that inspired me._

_--_

Chapter Two: Bar Brawl

"Welcome to the group, Misuk!" the three of them said in unison.

The first girl who had spoken decided to introduce everybody. "My name is Doko Yodo."

Yodo was slender with long blonde hair, and evenly cut bangs that hung in her eyes. She wore a simple dress that looked almost like a patchwork quilt of green, pink and orange silky fabric.

"This is Dare Eri," she motioned to the other girl. Eri was curvy, with medium-length black hair tied back in a ponytail with a green scarf adorned by pinkish-purple polka dots. She too wore a dress, similar to Yodo's, but green with a cherry blossom design.

"And this is Naze Hsawaknow," she indicated the boy. He had unevenly cut brown hair that gave the impression that he had perpetual bed-head. He had on a black and red jacket that looked like it was meant to be worn by the leader of a marching band, and black pants with three red leather buckled straps just below the knee on each leg. "We call him Hsaw for short."

"Pleased to meet you all," Misuk said. "It's nice to be around friendly people right now." She looked around at her surroundings cautiously.

"Are you from around here? You seem lost – and your clothes are a little unusual, no offense," Eri said, looking her over.

Misuk looked down at her outfit. She was wearing a pair of baggy jeans, and a black T-shirt with an image of a green Chinese dragon on it. Around her neck, she had a metal ball chain with an engraved, pink heart-shaped tag. And as for shoes… Unfortunately, whatever brought her to this world didn't know how to coordinate, because she had two different shoes on – a green hi-top converse on her right foot, and a regular rust red converse on the left. "Eh… No, I'm not exactly from around here."

"Neither are we," Hsaw nodded, "We all came from different villages. We just happened to meet and become friends."

"Yeah. I came from Hides in Leaves, Eri came from Hides in Snow and Hsaw came from Hides in Sound," Yodo added.

"Where are you from?" Eri questioned.

Misuk shook her head. "Very, very, very far away."

"How did you end up here?"

"To be honest, I have no idea. And I don't really want to try figuring it out right this minute…"

The three looked at each other weird.

"So," Misuk said, changing the subject, "How much do you guys actually know? Like I said, I don't know… well, anything. I prefer to use logic than beat someone's brains in…"

"We've learned some basic things, basic martial arts, developed some skills, stuff like that," Yodo replied. "We're quick learners, and we pick things up from other people a lot, so we're not terrible, but we're not exactly great either."

"Huh… If you pick things up that well, why didn't you become ninja?"

"We had a hard time concentrating and applying ourselves in an academic setting," Eri explained, "We each tried and tried, but didn't get anywhere. So we left our villages…"

"And found each other on the crossroads. Lucky, eh?" Hsaw smiled.

"Yes – fate must have brought you together. I have experience with that…" Misuk trailed off, her mind wandering back to her own world. "You know," she said suddenly, "I could use a drink. Is there somewhere around here where I could get some alcohol?"

Once again, they all exchanged odd glances. "Yeah, in the town down this path," Hsaw said.

"Great. I'll have a drink, and you can show me some of the basic martial arts you know."

"Anything specific you'd like us to do?"

"Well, you could always pick a fight with drunk people, I guess," Misuk shrugged.

"Sounds like fun," Hsaw replied, and the two girls agreed.

"I was actually being sarcastic, but if you like the idea that much, go for it. Drunks might be pretty mean, but their motor skills also suck."

"Come on," Yodo said with a wave, as she started down the path, "It's this way."

In the bar…

The place was relatively quiet, with the soft murmur of a few conversations and the occasional laugh just barely masked by the sound of music coming from somewhere.

Everyone looked up when a young woman came in with three teenagers trailing her.

Misuk glanced around at all the disgruntled expressions, wondering whether it was normal for patrons in this bar to glare at people coming in, or if some aspect of their little group was offensive to them.

She turned to her young charges and whispered, "Wait till I order a drink. I'll give you the signal, and do whatever you like."

They nodded, and she went over and sat down at the bar. They watched her take a sip of saki, then raise her hand and point to the ceiling.

"How do you start a brawl with drunks, anyway?" Eri asked her companions.

"Like this." Hsaw grabbed a chair and smashed it over a big, bald guy's head. He turned around slowly.

"You lookin' for a fight, kid?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." Hsaw waited for the guy to get up and come at him before he grabbed him, hoisted him in the air, and chucked him into a crowd of people. "Brawl successfully started."

Misuk was drinking her saki, casually watching the big fight now in progress.

"Nice day," she said to the bartender, and then ducked as a man came sailing through the air and crashed into the wall behind the bar.

The bartender looked down at the man with a surprised expression. "Yeah, really nice. Fantastic. Is it obvious that I don't mean that at all?" He crossed his arms, giving her a dirty look.

She chuckled nervously, hoping the guy wasn't going to go get a weapon, like the bartenders in her world.

The three teens were knocking drunks left and right, and, to Misuk's amusement, into other drunks. The drunks were holding up better than expected, having been endowed with a scary amount of get-up-'n-go by their heavy drinking.

"Reminds me of the drunk psycho in Jet Li's _Rise to Honor_," Misuk said to herself, thinking back to the game's portrayal of the guy trying to drown Jet Li in a swimming pool, as she watched one of the bar's patrons trying to swing a table leg at Eri's head.

Eri kicked the man in the face, and Misuk smiled, turning to the bartender. "Does this sort of thing happen often?"

Yodo was swinging a guy around by his feet.

"No," he replied, his eyes narrowing. "Why don't you stop it?"

"How do you know they're with me?"

"How stupid do I look to you?" He was dead serious.

She finished her drink quickly. "Err… I think we'll be going now…"

"Not so fast," the bartender said.

Misuk turned, raising a hand. "Some help over here?" She pointed to the bartender.

Yodo let go of the man's feet, and he went sailing across the room, right into the bartender. The bar was now quiet, all of it's original occupants laying in unconscious piles around the place.

Misuk looked around. "That was great! For teenagers, you're pretty good at taking out drunks twice your size."

"What should we do now?" Hsaw asked with a grin, wiping his forehead.

"Why don't we go and get to know each other better over some ramen? I'll buy," Eri suggested.

"That's Eri, always generous," Yodo said. "That's why Hsaw calls her 'Philan'."

"'Philan'?" Misuk questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Short for philanthropist. He gives everyone nicknames."

"Really? What's yours, Yoda?"

"Yodo," she corrected.

"Sorry," Misuk said with a sheepish smile, "Your name reminds me of this character in a movie called Yoda. He was sort of an alien Buddha."

Yodo had a rather disturbed expression on her face as her two friends laughed. "Her nickname was 'Babble' because she talks so much, but I think I like 'Yoda' better," Hsaw laughed.

"Yeah, hilarious," Yodo murmured, wanting to move the conversation away from herself. "So, what are you going to call Misuk?"

Hsaw looked at her for a moment, and scratched his head. "I'm not sure yet."

"I hope it's something good," Misuk said, falling into step behind the group as they started off.

This wasn't so bad. Although Misuk was far from home, at least she wasn't alone. She had three new friends, and nothing horrible had happened… Yet. She couldn't help, but wonder, though – if she was really in the world of Naruto, did that mean it's characters were hanging around somewhere nearby?

A little while later…

The four of them were getting acquainted over ramen. While Yodo talked about something or other, Misuk's mind wandered. How did she come to be here, and why? Would she ever get home?

"Misuk," Yodo called to her suddenly, "You never told us exactly where you were from."

Misuk was sort of blind-sided. She really didn't know what to say… except the truth. "Well… Um… I don't think you'd believe me if I told you…"

"How come?" Eri asked, lacing her fingers beneath her chin.

"It's… unbelievable… Even to me…"

"Tell us. We're very understanding – even if it is crazy-sounding," Hsaw replied.

Misuk looked from one to another, and then smiled slightly, hoping they didn't call her psychotic. "I'm not from this world."

They stared at her. "What do you mean?"

"Well… From what I know of physics, I'm probably in a different dimension. You see, in my world, none of this exists. It's all a part of an imaginary world in a manga and stuff. I was reading some of the manga when I ended up here… I don't even know what happened, because I was asleep. I thought I was dreaming, but I'm not… I really wish I was."

Her three friends obviously didn't know how to respond. It did indeed sound crazy – but they could tell she was serious.

"We believe you," Hsaw said, and the girls nodded.

"It may be bizarre, but you're very convincing," Eri added.

"So none of this is real at all in your world? It's just fiction?"

"Yeah. All imagined. In my world, there aren't any ninja anymore, either. There are a couple samurai here and there, though. The story itself is about a boy named Naruto, and it's quite popular."

"Naruto? That name sounds familiar…" Yodo trailed off, thinking.

"I'm really worried I may never get home again… As if I didn't already have enough stress in my life…"

"I'm sure you'll get back home," Eri offered, "I don't know how you ended up here, but there has to be a way back."

"I hope so," Misuk said, pulling her shoulder-length brunette hair back in pigtails absentmindedly. "Hey, guys – thanks for not calling me insane."

"No problem," Yodo smiled. "There's plenty of weird happenings in the world. They have to happen to someone."

"Uh, would you excuse me for a minute? I'm going to go meditate for a bit. I won't be long," Misuk said, getting up.

"Take your time," the three said in unison.

Back on the path…

Misuk meandered back to the area where she'd found herself when she woke up, looking at the trees. "Why is my life so confusing?"

She sat down in the middle of the road, thinking back to her own world, her home, her friends, her family… She really missed them… especially one thing in particular…

She was so engrossed in her own thoughts, she didn't hear the footsteps approaching behind her.

"What to do? What to do?" she sighed, suddenly feeling something hot on her neck… almost like breath…

She looked over her shoulder coming face-to-face with a big, ragged wolf that didn't look too friendly. "Oh crap…"

She sat perfectly still as the wolf began circling her, growling. "Nice wolf. Don't kill me."

Well, apparently the wolf disagreed, because it suddenly lunged at her throat. She was pushing on it's throat as hard as she could, praying that she wasn't about to die. "HHHEEELLLPPP!!"

The wolf wasn't deterred by her attempts to push him back and just pushed against her hands harder, trying to get at her windpipe.

"What the hell is wrong with this thing?!" Misuk screamed, trying to wedge her knee between herself and the wolf's chest.

He arms were getting tired. She couldn't hold up much longer, and the wolf's jaws were getting closer and closer…

The beast opened it's jaws wide in anticipation of the fatal bite, when something kicked it of Misuk.

Misuk sat up, looking around in surprise as the wolf stumbled around, growling. She'd seen and orange blur…

--

_That bar fight was really odd… And for some reason I kept picturing a saloon… It did sort of remind me of Jet Li's 'Rise to Honor', though. My best friend plays that here when she comes down to stay with me, and she gets mad when I laugh while the guy is drowning Jet Li because she has a hard time beating that board. Still funny, though._

_I actually chose Yodo's name because it sounded like Yoda – I didn't even know it was a name until I was going through them and found that. I figured it might lead to some weird subplot about her being like Yoda in some way._

_I'm not sure what inspired the whole thing with the probably rabid wolf. But it is going to lead into the next major part of the plot, which you might be able to guess what that is. Haha, any idea who the orange blur is?_

_Well, that's it for this chapter. Leave me a review and let me know what you think!_


	3. Annoying, Hyper Twerp

_Here we go, another chapter_

_Here we go, another chapter. In this one, the plot moves along some more, you learn some more stuff about the characters, and they take the first step in beginning their journey together. And the chapter title will explain itself. Enjoy!_

_--_

Chapter Three: Annoying, Hyper Twerp

"What the…?" Misuk murmured, wondering what she'd just seen a moment before, temporarily forgetting the wolf only a few yards away.

The wolf shook its head, pulling itself together and laying it's sights on the prey again. It started growling as it drew nearer.

Misuk was still oblivious to the danger until she heard a low growl right in her ear. She turned her head slowly towards the sound, and came nose-to-nose with the wolf. They stared at each other for a moment, and then the wolf snarled. "DAMN IT!"

Before Misuk could even react, the wolf got knocked sideways by a kick to the head. It rolled across the road from the intensity of the blow, soon getting up and moving towards the person who kicked it.

"Get out of here, flea bag!" a boy was shouting at the wolf.

Misuk could hardly believe her eyes. She was looking at the real Naruto Uzumaki.

"Get lost!" Naruto kicked dirt at the approaching beast.

The wolf snarled and jumped on him, at which point the boy began running around like a headless chicken, shouting 'Get it off, get it off!'

Misuk just stared in amazement.

Finally Naruto managed to pull the wolf off, just for it to grab him by the arm. Not knowing exactly what to do in this situation, he began punching it in the face.

"Let go!" He punched it again, and it lost its grip. He kicked it across the road like before.

The wolf got up off the ground, gave Naruto a dirty look, and slunk off into the woods.

The fight won, Naruto turned his attention to the girl in the middle of the road. "Are you okay?" he asked, running over to help her up.

She was silent for a moment, then smiled and wrapped her arms around him in a bear hug. "Thank you so much!"

"All in a day's work," Naruto replied. He didn't mind so much that there was a big-boobed lady hugging him, it was more the fact that she was suffocating him with her death grip that bothered him. "Excuse me… But I can't breathe…"

"Sorry. I'm just so happy you came along!" she said, letting go of him. "How lucky I am that you were nearby."

"I guess it's a good thing I got lost and couldn't find my team then," he said with a grin.

"Ah, so you're lost, eh? Why don't you come with me, and my team will help you find yours."

"You're a ninja?" he asked.

"Not exactly… But then again, I'm supposed to be my team's Sensei, and I'm not exactly one of those, either."

"Just what are you, then?" Naruto looked at her funny.

"Someone trying to help people. I'm Misuk," she introduced herself.

"I'm Naruto."

A few minutes later…

"There you are, Misuk," Hsaw said when she walked up. "We were wondering what happened to you."

"I almost became wolf food," she explained, and Yodo and Eri gasped. "But Naruto here saved me."

Hsaw, Yodo, and Eri all exchanged glances. He was the one she'd mentioned when talking about her world earlier.

Yodo's eyes suddenly widened in realization. "Wait a minute… I remember you! You were that obnoxious kid in my village that I used to throw bricks at!"

"That was you?! What the hell is your problem?!"

"You're and annoying, hyper twerp! Who wouldn't throw bricks at you?"

"Uh, everyone in the village except you?"

"Oh, shut up!"

"You shut up, hag!"

"Okay, okay, everybody shut up!" Misuk said loudly. "Yodo, don't throw bricks at people. Naruto, don't call people hags."

"But - " Naruto began, and Misuk leaned close, giving him a serious look.

"Naruto, I like you. But that doesn't mean I won't gag you if you keep arguing."

Naruto didn't want to, but he shut up. Misuk was good at commanding respect when she wanted to.

"Now, everyone, Naruto got separated from his team. We're going to help him find them again. We don't have much to do, as it is… First, though, I need to sit down for a while."

They all sat at a table, a rather uncomfortable silence hanging around as Yodo and Naruto glared at each other. Eri was playing with chopsticks, while Hsaw whistled a memorable tune.

"Is that 'Singing in the Rain'?" Misuk asked.

"Yeah, it is." He continued to whistle jauntily.

"Get used to hearing him sing, too – he does it all the time," Eri said.

"No kidding? So do I," Misuk replied. "It makes me feel carefree."

"Speaking of music, he's been working on this jutsu where whatever he sings causes something to happen," Yodo said, still staring at Naruto.

"Like what?"

"Depends on the song," Hsaw answered.

"Can you give me a demonstration?" Misuk smiled sweetly.

"Sure thing." Before he could do anything, though, Naruto and Yodo went at it again, standing on either side of the table.

"Quit staring at me!" he shouted.

"Then stop staring at me!" she retorted.

The rest of the group exchanged looks and shrugged.

"Siren jutsu," Hsaw said, doing a hand-sign that ended with something oddly similar to the Egyptian dance, and began to sing. "Ring around the rosy, pockets full of posies. Ashes, ashes, we all fall down!"

As if stricken by rigor mortis, Yodo and Naruto suddenly went completely stiff and fell backwards, landing with thuds on the floor.

"Ouch," Naruto murmured from his spot on the floor.

"That has to be one of the funniest and scariest things I've ever seen – Hsaw, you are officially my musical hero."

He smiled with satisfaction. "It's a good skill, but it's sort of weak."

"Maybe it would work better with two people," Eri suggested idly.

Hsaw and Misuk stared at each other.

"Like two people singing together - " Misuk started.

"With synchronized choreography," Hsaw continued.

"It would be twice as powerful - "

"And twice as confusing and disturbing to enemies."

"Awesome," they said in unison.

"We could work as a team within the team," Hsaw said, "Would you like to try it?"

"Sure," Misuk responded, "At least then I'd be able to defend myself with something other than brute strength."

"Hey, guys; I just had a thought. Shouldn't we name our little group? Since we're from all over, we don't really have an identity," Yodo said, finally getting off the floor after the effects of the jutsu wore off.

"I know where she's from," Naruto pointed to Yodo as he got up, "But where are the rest of you from?"

"Hides in Sound," said Hsaw.

"Hides in Snow," said Eri.

"Err… Really far away," said Misuk.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Can't you be more specific?"

"Why?"

"Are you a wanted criminal, or something?"

"No! Is everyone I meet going to grill me about this?"

Everyone shrugged.

"You know what, from now on, if someone that we know we can trust asks, we just spill it, okay?"

"How do you know you can trust him?" Yodo directed at Naruto, who snapped back.

"Speak for yourself!"

"Shut up," Misuk said, and they fell silent. "This is how it is…"

A while later…

Misuk finished explaining about how she came to be in their world. Naruto stared at her… And then began to laugh. "You're kidding me, right?"

"Uh, no," she replied simply.

He took on a quizzical expression. "So you expect me to believe that you're from another world? And that people there know about me and I'm popular?"

"Well, more or less."

"Come on, that's impossible."

"Nothing's impossible. Besides, it's supported by physics."

"I have no idea what you mean by 'physics'…"

"Oh, right. This is the one who's sort of…"

"Sort of what?"

"Um… Nothing."

"No, what?"

"Stupid," Yodo interjected.

"I am NOT stupid!"

"People, we're forgetting something – what do we call ourselves?" Eri said, trying to quell the tension.

"Good question," Hsaw said, tapping his fingers on the table. "We're a pretty odd group of misfits."

"Somewhat crazy misfits," Yodo added.

"Yeah, you especially," Naruto mumbled, and Yodo jumped over the table and tackled him.

The other two teens looked to Misuk, who shook her head. "Eh… Let them tire themselves out." Then she had a thought. "If we're so crazy and weird, why don't we call ourselves 'Hides in Crazy'?"

"That works." The two nodded vigorously.

"Okay, 'Hides in Crazy' is how we'll identify ourselves. Now," she said, standing up, "Let's go find Naruto's team." She proceeded, with a good-natured smile, to separate Yodo and Naruto and drag them out, followed by Eri and Hsaw.

Back on the dirt road…

"So," Naruto said, having calmed down and chosen to ignore Yodo for the time being, "You said that where you're from, none of this is real?"

"Yes," Misuk groaned, "I've reiterated that several times already."

"So tell me something about… well, here… in your world."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, anything. Tell me something about someone I know."

"Hm. Okay." Misuk thought briefly. "In my world, practically every girl I've ever known who's a fan of yours has a crush on Kakashi – he is, after all, very awesome. How 'bout another person?"

"You know about him? Anyway… Let's see… Lee."

"Hehe, my reaction the first time I saw him was 'what the hell is that thing?'"

There was rustling in a nearby bush, and they all stopped and listened. There was a high-pitched sound of an animal calling that Misuk thought sounded familiar.

"Tweek?"

There was a meow, and a brightly colored Tortoiseshell cat ambled out of the bush.

"Oh, Tweek!" she said, going over and scooping up the cat, giving it a big hug. "This is my cat Tweek. How did she get here?"

"Maybe she was brought here with you," Yodo proposed.

"Tweek, I'm so happy to see you! What were you doing in this bush, though?" She set down Tweek, parted the bush, and gasped in delight. "My bag!"

She pulled a large brown purse out of the bush. It had several cords of a leather-like material forming a collective strap, an embroidered design of flowers in tan, and chains crisscrossing down the side. She opened it, and smiled. "I don't know how this stuff got in here, but it's perfect!"

She dug through it. "I've got some of my music collection, a bottle of my favorite tea, a CD player, various items… a grilled cheese sandwich?"

"I'm getting hungry," Naruto was mumbling to himself.

"Here, take this," Misuk said, tossing him the sandwich of questionable age.

He took one bite and made a face. "Oh, that is old!" Then he continued eating it.

"I wonder how all this stuff got here… And in my bag, for that matter." She picked Tweek up off the ground and put the cat on her shoulder. "Come on, Tweek. We're going for a walk."

"You dropped this," Eri said, handing Misuk a picture of a familiar boy.

"Who is that?" Hsaw questioned.

Misuk looked at it, hardly able to collect her thoughts. "It's… someone who means a lot to me… And I really miss him right now…" She shook her head, deciding it was time to change the subject, stuffing the picture into her bag. "Come on, let's get moving."

When she was far enough ahead to be out of earshot, Naruto spoke quietly. "That was a little odd."

The others agreed, and they began to walk.

--

_The story title is finally explained. Hehe, I like the hostility between Yodo and Naruto – that will probably continue throughout the story, too. There's actually going to be some conflict between Misuk and one character that if you were paying close attention to what she said, you might catch the foreshadowing. That conflict is going to lead to a rather amusing plot twist sooner or later._

_The story behind the picture in Misuk's bag is actually going to be part of the central plot, so all will be explained… And you'll have to wait to see what I mean, 'cause I don't want to give anything away._

_Ah well, I need sleep. So, see you next time. Leave me a review and let me know what you think! _


	4. A Real Team

_Finally back for another chapter – sorry for the delay_

_Finally back for another chapter – sorry for the delay. I've been so sleep deprived for a while now that I have a tendency to fall asleep early on Fridays, whereas I used to stay up all night (till, like, 7am) typing, go to bed, get three hours of sleep, then get right back up. Hopefully I'll be updating again next week, as long as things don't get crazy again, like this week was. Fortunately, I already had the chapter nearly finished, so the craziness didn't really affect it. Anyway…Oh, I should mention, this story doesn't really take place at any particular point in time during the course of Naruto's plot, it just sort of happens in the middle of a blank period, I guess. And don't ask me why I did a team of five – I think it will play a role sooner or later._

--

Chapter Four: A Real Team

"Do you remember exactly where you lost them?" Misuk was looking around at trees with a clueless expression on her face.

"Isn't that the whole point of being lost? Not remembering?" Naruto questioned.

"True," she replied, "Why is it these woods all look the same? At least where I'm from, there are so many different breeds of trees in a given area it's hard to get lost… Although there's a better chance of getting run down by a rabid fox there than here."

"So… Are we just going to wander around until we find them? Or get eaten by wild animals? Or fall off a cliff?" Eri was asking.

"That's the plan – the first one, that is, not the other two." They stopped, and Misuk ran a hand over her head. "I'm beginning to think that we are getting hopelessly lost here."

"Wouldn't be the first time for us," Eri said, "Actually, isn't there another town somewhere down this path?"

"Why would they build two towns so close together? This area isn't extremely developed…" Misuk scratched behind Tweek's ears.

"Maybe we could find a map or something in the town," Yodo said, and Hsaw shrugged.

"We could have just done that back there."

"Eh, people could do a lot of things. But do they? No. Not even if they really hurt someone in the process," Misuk grumbled, and the four stared.

"Where did that come from? You sounded really bothered just then," Eri said, and Naruto nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, is there something you're not telling us?"

"Um…" She tapped her chin, trying to piece together and explanation. "Well… No. Not really. My mind was somewhere else a moment ago, sorry. Err… Come on, let's go." She picked up her pace, quickly walking down the road.

"Weird," Hsaw said, donning a stunned expression.

"Wait, wait, just wait," Naruto said, running up alongside Misuk. "I think you're acting really odd."

"When don't I?" she said with a smirk.

"Not funny. What I mean is, you're acting like your hiding something. Why?"

"If I was hiding something, why would I tell you? It's not like it's any of your business," she replied politely.

"If there's something wrong, you could always talk about it, instead of acting like a murderer about the whole thing."

"Murderer? Hey, I might be acting weird, but not that weird."

"So you admit you're acting weird?"

"Uh, no." She pushed ahead, like a cow trying to lose a bothersome dog at her heels.

"Well, you are."

"Well, who cares? What business is it of yours, anyway?"

"You seem like something's bothering you, and when people are bothered, I want to know why."

"You're a good kid, Naruto," Misuk said, slowing her pace, "I just don't feel like talking about it right now."

"Guys, wait for us!" Eri shouted to them.

"Oh… I almost forgot about them. That's what happens when your mind is off somewhere else, I suppose…"

"We're just outside of town now," Yodo said when she caught up to them. "What are we going to do there, anyway?"

"Hsaw, Yodo, you guys should go get a map and a compass or something, so we don't keep wandering around in the middle of nowhere. I, on the other hand, have something in mind I'd like to do – Eri, Naruto, why don't you come with me?"

They entered the town, which was a little nicer than the previous one, without much ado. Misuk turned to Hsaw, digging through her purse.

"Hsaw, borrow my CDs and start getting acquainted with some songs. If we're going to do that technique together, we'll need to know some of the same songs."

"Will do."

They split up a minute later, and Hsaw and Yodo began looking around.

"Where exactly do we look for this stuff?" Hsaw questioned, looking around while he played with a CD.

"I don't know… I never tried looking for maps before… I mean, when I left my village, I just started walking wherever. Then I found you guys."

"Heh, we both did the same thing as you. I guess we really were meant to meet up," Hsaw said, flipping through songs.

They wandered around the town for what felt like forever, although it was probably closer to an hour. They hadn't seen anything that suggested there were any maps in this town. In fact, they'd asked a few shopkeepers if they had maps or knew where to find one, and gotten only replies of 'Where are you from?'

"Why is it everywhere we've ever been, people treat us like complete retards or lepers?" Yodo sighed.

"I think we give them some sort of bad impression. I've always had that problem," Hsaw said, and then started laughing. "You have to listen to this."

He turned the volume on the CD player all the way up and a very odd version of 'The Man on the Flying Trapeze' started playing.

"Left in this wide world to sleep and to snore – to weep and to mourn. Betriened by a Jane in her mean – bemeaned by a trade for some jeans – bejeaned by a teen with some j – betrayed by a maid in her teens. Oh…"

"Wow. Creepy," Yodo said, rolling her eyes. Hsaw was now listening to another song, and playing hackey sack with a rock. "Hsaw," she murmured, "What are we going to do about the map problem?"

"I don't know," he replied, kicking the rock a little too hard when he got distracted.

Nearby…

Neji, Tenten, Rock Lee and Sakura had come into town, hoping to find the missing Naruto so they could head back to their village.

"Do you think he's really here?" Sakura asked, just to get nailed in the head with a rock. She turned to see where it came from, and spotted a boy, about five yards off, pick up another rock and start kicking it in the air. "Hey!" Again, the rocked nailed her right in the head. "What the hell?!"

"Calm down, Sakura – I'm sure it was an accident," Tenten was saying when a rock clocked her in the head, too. "Okay, now I'm pissed."

Five yards away…

Yodo had been trying to tell Hsaw that he'd been bouncing rocks off of nearby people, but he was so absorbed in the song that he didn't hear her – instead he was dancing.

"Hsaw, you'd better turn around."

He didn't hear her still. "California, here we come. Right back where we started from - "

"HSAWAKNOW!"

"What?" he asked innocently, pulling the headphones off.

"You've been inadvertently playing target practice with strangers."

"Ah-ha… Oops."

"Hey, what's the big deal?" Sakura barked at the strange boy and he stared at her.

"Um, nothing."

"you were bouncing rocks off of my head," she growled, and Tenten nodded.

"Mine, too."

"I think you owe us an apology."

"Why?" Hsaw reasoned, "I didn't even know I was doing it. It was a complete accident."

"You'd better apologize unless you want trouble," Lee cautioned.

"Really, Shaken Baby Syndrome?" Hsaw glared at him, not appreciating the threat. He was very selective about who he'd take orders from, and he didn't like it when people got pushy with him.

"Excuse me?" Lee questioned incredulously.

Not far away…

Having accomplished her goal with Eri's help, Misuk was leading the two through the town to find their friends.

"Thanks for lending me some money, Eri," Misuk said, "I promise I'll pay you back."

"Don't worry about it," Eri smiled. "I was glad to help on behalf of the team."

"So," Naruto began, looking at Eri with a curious expression, "Where do you guys get all your money?"

"We travel and help those who need assistance. The people we help are usually more than happy to donate some money to our cause."

As they continued walking, they could hear a lot of shouting up ahead.

"Sounds like a fight," Naruto said.

They drew closer to the sound, and Misuk heard a voice she remembered. "Err… Naruto, exactly who was it you are looking for?"

Up ahead they spotted a gaggle of people, and at the edge of the group was Yodo.

"Uh oh," Misuk said.

Close by…

"I'd like it if you got out of my face," Hsaw was telling Lee.

"Oh yeah? Make me."

Hsaw did the weird hand sign. "Siren jutsu – I get knocked down."

Lee hit the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust.

"But I get up again – you're never going to keep me down," Yodo finished the chorus of the song as an afterthought.

"Break it up!" Misuk shouted as she, Naruto and Eri approached, "What is going on over here?"

"A bit of a misunderstanding," Yodo explained, "You see, Hsaw was cracking people in the head with rocks without realizing it, and then they got into a tiff because this guy with the eyebrows got in his face."

Misuk looked down at Lee, who was now sitting up. "Oh God, it's exactly who I thought I heard before…" She moved further away from him.

"Naruto," Neji said, noticing him in the company of the two girls, "Do you know these people?"

"Yup," he replied happily, "They're my new friends. Except for her." He pointed to Yodo.

"Oh, go to hell," she grumbled, crossing her arms huffily.

Naruto proceeded to introduce the teens to each other.

"And this is Misuk, their Sensei. Sort of."

"Uh… Sort of?" asked Tenten, and Misuk shook her head.

"I'll explain later."

"Now that we've found you, Naruto, we really should get back to Konohagakure for our next assignment," Neji said, and he nodded, turning to his newfound friends.

"Do you want to come with us?"

Misuk didn't see why not. She looked at her three companions, who all smiled and concurred. "Sounds like fun."

"We had better get a move on then. We won't arrive until tomorrow afternoon as it is," Neji said, beginning to walk, and the others fell into step behind him.

"Ah," Misuk said, stopping Yodo and Hsaw. "I nearly forgot, Eri and Naruto helped me find a place that did this sort of thing…" She pulled out four headbands, the metal plate inscribed with the spiral symbol people use to represent something being crazy. "Now we're a little more like a real team."

Misuk tied hers just above her left knee, Hsaw tied his around his right ankle (the way Misuk had seen gang members in her world do), Yodo tied hers around her head, and Eri did the same – except she tied it on backwards.

"These are great. Thanks, Neesan," Hsaw said, and Misuk looked up at him.

"Did you just call me 'older sister'?"

"It seemed appropriate. You are like an older sister to us."

"Neesan; I like that," she said with a smile. "Okay, let's catch up with the others, and go make a name for ourselves, eh?"

"Yeah!" the said in unison, beginning to head for the village.

--

_Ah, that was a nice ending… It made me feel all warm and funny inside. The next chapter is going to be fun to write, 'cause I have some really weird ideas for it that will lead to small subplots within the major plot. For that matter, Misuk's problem will finally come into the light sometime soon. It's a normal sort of problem, one some people have to deal with that can be really emotionally crippling, even though a lot of people seem to think you can just "get over it". And while it isn't so much of a dramatic problem, as is common in anime, it does cause her a lot of grief, and hopefully, it's normal enough that people can relate to it. I know some people who can._

_Heh, don't ask why Hsaw called Lee 'Shaken Baby Syndrome' – when I was writing that part, I thought back to my middle school HomeEC class and remembered this guy who sat near me shaking the one of the fake babies we had to take care of and shouting that._

_That's it for now, but I'll be back soon, so leave me a review and let me know what you think!_


	5. Alien or Not

_New chapter coming at ya_

_New chapter coming at ya! In this one, a couple of different plot arches get going, one minor one, and the part of the plot that will be the basis for how the story works – in other words, what they'll be doing during the course of the story._

--

Chapter Five: Alien or Not

Walking for hours is extremely boring, as you may have guessed, and it helps to pass the time by doing something. So Hsaw busied himself teaching Misuk his technique as well as the basics, while the others talked amongst themselves.

Traveling the night before had given them time to get a feel for each other's personalities. Eri, Yodo, Tenten and Sakura all talked constantly, like a high school clique of popular girls, as Naruto's teammates filled Yodo in on what had happened since she left Konoha. Neji kept to himself predominantly, while Lee begrudgingly put up with being picked on by Hsaw to Misuk's amusement, whom seemed to think something about him was funny, and Naruto tried to stay awake, having not slept quite as much as he'd have liked.

"Sorry, Tweek, but it's kind of distracting to have you in my face at the moment," Misuk said to her cat as she pulled her off of her shoulder. "Naruto, would you be a dear and carry Tweek for a while?"

He murmured something indistinct as a response, being half asleep. She gently placed the cat on his shoulders, and Tweek meowed before deciding his head was a better place to perch.

"Good, good; I think you've got it," Hsaw said and Misuk half-laughed.

"How weird to think that I'm the sensei, and you're teaching me."

"Okay, now try putting it all together, just the way you've seen me do it."

"What an odd group of people," Lee commented to Neji absentmindedly in a whisper.

"Indeed. In particular, that Misuk-sensei. No experience whatsoever, and claims to be from another dimension. Not exactly run-of-the-mill."

"Do you believe the 'other dimension' story?"

"No. But they seem to adamantly believe it, so they are either psychotic or they are telling the truth. Time will tell, I suppose."

"Hm," Lee agreed, then thinking of something. "Is it just me, or does it seem like Misuk-sensei has something against me?"

Behind them, Misuk was trying to think of a song to use. "Oh, I got it." She focused as hard as she could, having had a lot of practice over the years thanks to meditation, and did the hand sign just as Hsaw had taught her. "Siren jutsu – walk like and Egyptian."

Still half asleep and totally unaware that it was even happening, Naruto started doing the Egyptian. Tweek meowed, trying to keep her balance on his head.

"It's like she thinks something about me is hilarious. I don't know wha - " Lee was interrupted when Naruto, who was behind him, walked into him and they ended up in a heap on the ground, with Tweek sitting on top.

"Uh, how did I end up on the ground?" Naruto asked, looking around. "And, err, why am I on top of Lee?"

"Sorry – I didn't think that was actually going to work," Misuk said, scratching her head with a sheepish expression.

Later in the afternoon…

"Wow, this place is even nicer to look at in person," Misuk said, looking at Konoha in wonder as they entered the village.

After a fair amount of time walking and walking some more, they had finally reached their destination. Now it was time for a bit of a breather. Or so they thought.

But for the moment, they were home free. And being somewhere she felt like she'd be safe, put Misuk in the mood to whistle. After a moment, Hsaw started singing to the tune.

"I've got a song, I've got a song…"

The two exchanged looks and started singing together loudly. "And I carry it with me and I sing it loud. If it gets me nowhere, I'll go there proud. Moving me down the highway, rolling me down the highway. Movin' ahead so life won't pass me by!"

People were staring, but they didn't care.

"And I'm gonna go there free! Like the fool I am and always will be, I've got a dream, I've got a dream."

People actually seemed to like the unusual spectacle.

"Oh, I know I could share it if you'd want me to. If you're going my way, I'll go with you!"

As if he'd been waiting for them all along (maybe he was), Kakashi came up to them and smiled pleasantly. "Welcome back."

"Kakashi-sensei, we made some new friends! Naruto said with a tone of excitement, his old perky self again now that he was fully awake.

Of course, Kakashi had noticed that quite a while ago, but he played coy anyway.

"Welcome to you, too," he said to the two teens who weren't singing with a pleasant, though obviously hidden, smile.

Tenten went about explaining who they were and where they were from, while Hsaw and Misuk were still singing away.

"Moving me down the highway, rolling me down the highway. Movin' ahead so life won't pass me by!"

To the two's surprise, everyone in the vicinity started clapping.

"And Misuk-sensei," Tenten finished her introduction.

"She's an alien," Naruto added, and Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow.

"No, I'm not – I told you already, I'm from another dimension, not another planet!"

"Well, can't aliens come from other dimensions?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, I guess, but that's beside the point."

"So, you could, in theory, be an alien," Lee posed, and Misuk got a little annoyed.

"I am not an alien! As far as I can tell, this could be a partition of the fifth dimension, which mirrors my dimension – so even if there are aliens in my dimension, they'd probably sill be outnumbered on the Earth, and therefore, the likeliness of me being an alien is slim! Besides, I'm not!"

"Okay, you don't have to bite my head off," Lee said, "It doesn't really matter to me if you're an alien or not."

"Well, I'm not!"

"Okay!"

"Fine!"

"Alright!"

"Shut up!"

"Is this going to end anytime soon?" Kakashi asked, a quizzical look on his face.

"Uh… That depends… They seem to have some kind of problem with each other, so it might not," Yodo said, and then something happened that stopped the fight in its tracks: Guy came along.

He stopped, watching the scene with a blank look on his face.

Misuk looked over at him and their eyes met. They stared at each other for what felt like a million years, and then music began to play somewhere…

"That's the look, that's the look, the look of love - " the song informed.

"That's the look of disgust," Kakashi corrected.

Indeed, Misuk didn't exactly seem thrilled to see him there.

"Who is this enchanting creature?" he asked, flashing his trademark smile.

"Oh God," she groaned, rolling her eyes.

"Look of love!" the song continued.

"Hsaw, please turn the volume down on the CD player," Misuk pleaded, glaring at Guy and wishing she could go hide somewhere.

"Sorry," he said, shutting it off. "Um, can I go find a public bathroom?"

"Go for it," Misuk answered, and Kakashi pointed to the right.

"It's that way."

"Don't get in any fights," Misuk added seriously.

"I won't," he promised. Hsaw headed off towards the bathroom, fortunately to be spared from the scene to follow.

"I'm Na Misuk, and if you know what's good for you, you'll stay far away from me, Guy," Misuk grumbled.

"Do we know each other?" Guy questioned, wondering how she knew him.

"No. Not really. But I know you – sort of – and I'm not getting into it."

"Ah-ha, stalker!" he said triumphantly, and she wanted to shoot herself. "Listen, I know you feel a deep connection with me, but I can't possibly get involved with someone so young. How old are you? Sixteen?"

Misuk's eyes narrowed. "I'm in my twenties!"

"Oh, well that changes everything!"

"I wouldn't even be your friend, let alone date you. I mean, I'm all for giving people a chance, but spending even a second with you is torture," she replied, noticing how Lee got offended by her making fun of his sensei. Guy, on the other hand, wasn't even remotely fazed.

"Fiery personality, I like that," he said thoughtfully.

Now she was getting irritated. "In the words of the Grinch 'I HATE YOU! Hate, hate, hate; hate, hate, hate. Double hate! LOATHE ENTIRELY'!"

He simply smiled. "You know you can't resist my charms."

Misuk ran a hand down her face, and looked over at Kakashi who just shrugged.

Meanwhile…

Hsaw was heading back to the group from the facilities, whistling a tune and wondering how Misuk was handling the situation with the weird guy who looked like Moe from The Three Stooges.

He wasn't particularly paying attention to where he was walking, and that's when trouble struck.

He was seriously startled when his foot suddenly collided with something and there was a loud yelp. He looked down to see that he'd just kicked a small white dog right in the ribs. The dog whimpered and ran behind a hooded boy standing not far away.

"Akamaru!" Kiba said with great concern, crouching down to check on the dog, "Are you okay?"

Akamaru whimpered in response.

Kiba quickly stood up, and laid eyes on the person responsible.

Hsaw swallowed hard, rather frightened by the intense glare he was giving him.

"What do you think you're doing, hurting Akamaru like that?!"

"Uh…" Hsaw began, at a total loss for words. "It was… It was an accident!"

"Really? How the hell do you miss a dog walking right in front of you?! Are you blind, or something?"

"N-no, I was just - " Hsaw attempted, but Kiba cut him off.

"You were what? Why don't you try picking on someone your own size!"

"Fine! I will!" Hsaw snapped back, turning to walk away.

Kiba, infuriated by the whole thing, wasn't letting him get away so easily. "You're not going anywhere!"

He grabbed Hsaw by the shoulder and spun him around. "What's wrong? Afraid of me?"

Hsaw could tell from the start that this guy wanted a fight, and he was hoping he could avoid it, but it seemed he was backed into a corner. Even so, he'd said he wouldn't get into a fight, and he intended to keep it that way.

"I'm not going to fight you, if that's what you want," he said, shoving Kiba away and going to pass him.

"Wuss!" Kiba taunted, and socked Hsaw in the face, knocking him backwards onto the ground.

Hsaw glared at Kiba, wiping blood from his mouth as he got up. "I won't fight," Hsaw reiterated, spitting blood as he talked.

Kiba took this as an invitation to rush him.

Hsaw attempted to duck a punch, but Kiba caught him off guard with a kick to the chest, once again laying him flat, just to jump on top of him and begin rolling around as he kept attacking him and Hsaw tried to get him off. After what seemed like ages, Hsaw finally managed to dislodge Kiba by kicking him in the face. Once Kiba was off, Hsaw sat up and began coughing, splattering blood all over the ground.

Kiba stood over him, wearing a sneer as he caught his breath. "Are you really not going to fight back? What a joke," he laughed lightly. "And you call yourself a ninja?"

Hsaw looked around, realizing they were in an empty area, before his gaze dropped to the headband tied around his ankle. There was no one around to intervene in the fight, and it didn't look like it was going to end at this rate…

"Fine. You wanna fight, I'll fight." Hsaw got on his feet, his eyes locked on Kiba in an icy glare. "Summoning jutsu!"

In a puff of smoke, three humanoid creatures that resembled blonde women with long braids wearing winged helmets and steel armor appeared.

"Valkyries, if you would be so kind," Hsaw said, blood dripping on his jacket.

The Valkyries exchanged looks, and nodded with smiles. Completely in unison, they began to sing a scale. Kiba, who had no idea what was going on, just watched, while Hsaw quickly dug out his earplugs. Gradually, the notes of the scale increased in pitch, until the Valkyries suddenly hit a note it would be impossible for any human to ever hit, and held it. Kiba fell to his knees, covering his ears in pain while Akamaru ran around in circles frantically. It was the worst sound they'd ever heard – and to top it off, everything in the village made of glass began to burst.

"Oh crap," Hsaw murmured, not even remotely audible over the Valkyries.

In the Meantime…

"Hmm," Misuk growled, really dying to snap Guy's neck at this point.

He had been yakking away since Hsaw left, all about how great he was.

"I really want to shoot myself right now," she muttered, and Guy leaned close to Kakashi.

"She can't resist me."

Kakashi just ignored him, as usual.

Suddenly, there was a high-pitched 'La!' that rang through the air with the force of thunder.

The rest of the group was far enough away that they could still hear themselves think, at least but the same could not be said for hearing much else below a yell.

"What the hell is that?" Naruto shouted, trying to keep Tweek still while he covered her ears.

"It sounds like Hsaw summoned the Valkyries!" Eri shouted in response.

"What's a Valkyrie?" Naruto asked.

"Look it up in a dictionary!" Neji replied.

"God damn it, I told him not to fight!" Misuk yelled.

"What?" everyone asked in unison.

"Nevermind!" she called. "Guy, I don't have time to talk to you right now! Try bugging me later!" She turned to the others. "Let's go find him!"

Meanwhile…

The Valkyries finally finished singing the note, and looked to Hsaw with beautiful smiles.

"Thank you, ladies," he said coughing, and the Valkyries disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Hsaw sat down on the ground, feeling sick.

Kiba, who was only a few feet away, was still covering his ears. When he pulled his hands away, his palms were smeared with blood. "Damn…"

Akamaru came over to him and began licking his face.

"I'm in so much trouble," Hsaw said to himself quietly, just in time for…

"Naze Hsawaknow!" Misuk shouted from a distance as the group approached.

He got to his feet quickly.

"What the fucking hell is going on over here?!" She was a lot more calm than most people would be in this situation, but her tone didn't show it. "I told you not to get into a fight! Is this going to happen everywhere we go?"

"I'm sorry, Misuk-sensei," Hsaw said, not looking directly at her.

"What happened? And why is there broken glass all over the place?"

Hsaw sighed. "I accidentally kicked his dog, and he was beating the crap out of me, so I used my summoning jutsu - "

"Broke all the glass and probably deafened everyone in Konohagakure?"

"Yeah."

She surveyed the damages in the surrounding area and immediately felt a sense of dread coming on, shaking her head slowly in disbelief.

"I didn't think it was going to cause such a mess… And I think he needs medical attention." He motioned to Kiba, whose ears were bleeding.

"Eww!" Misuk cringed. She turned back to her student. "Oh, Hsaw, look at you, you're a mess," she said, looking him over. "What's this from?" She pointed to an odd pattern of bleeding cuts on his arm.

"Um," he said, looking at them carefully, "I think he bit me…"

"Ugh," she replied.

"I'm sorry," he apologized again, and she put an arm around him.

"Don't be. I want you to defend yourself, but it might have been a bad idea to do that in a heavily populated area… It's spectacular that you can do that, I just don't think this was the time to do it. And you," she turned to Kiba, her voice becoming cold. "An accident is an accident. You ever touch Hsaw again, so help me God, I'll bitch slap you!"

She liked Kiba a lot, but a well-placed threat was usually pretty good at keeping people in line.

Misuk took on a soft tone, observing Hsaw's wounds again. "We'll get you all patched up, okay? But first, I think we should go explain this mess to the Hokage…" She turned to look at Kiba. "That means you too, punk!"

"Right this way," Kakashi said, leading the way.

A little later…

The news that someone had managed to destroy all the glass in Konoha and cause a general disruption of daily life had reached Tsunade before it even ended, since all the glass in the vicinity had shattered. Shizune was sweeping it up off the floor when Kakashi came in, followed by Kiba, a young woman and three teens. Naruto, Sakura, Neji, Tenten, and Lee waited just outside the door, watching the scene attentively.

"I bring you some visitors, from all corners of the land, even one originally from here – and then some," he added, glancing at Misuk, "The HIC."

"'HIC'?" Shizune questioned.

"They left their villages and formed their own team, traveling the land as soldiers of fortune," Kakashi explained, citing what Tenten had said earlier during the course of Hsaw and Misuk's song. "This is their leader. Misuk-sensei?" he handed the conversation over to her.

Misuk stepped forward, eying Tsunade cautiously. "My apologies, I mean no disrespect, but I bow to no one. Been there, done that."

"Does she mean…?" Naruto started, and Sakura cut him off.

"Not now."

"And no, I didn't mean it like that. Get your mind out of the gutter," Misuk directed to Naruto, who just smiled.

"Are you the ones who caused - ?" Tsunade looked at Shizune sweeping the glass.

"These two are," she put one hand on Kiba's shoulder and one on Hsaw's. "Hsaw was the one who caused all the glass to break, but he was trying to defend himself because Kiba was attacking him. So, vicariously, I guess you could say it's both their faults."

"Who's responsible for starting it?"

Misuk looked at both of them. They exchanged looks and crossed their arms, apparently refusing to talk about it. "Eh… I'm not really sure…"

--

_Another chapter down. The next one is nearly finished, except for the typing part, and it's pretty long – written out, anyway._

_Don't ask where the whole thing with Guy came from – I was trying to come up with some sort of bizarre conflict when I started this that would possibly provide a source of comic relief, and that was what came to mind. In the end of the next chapter, another plot arch begins, which is supposed to be a source of comic relief, as well, though I don't know how that will work out. I specialize in writing comedy, but that's usually more ridiculous slapstick, so I'm a little out of my element._

_I realize I've been focusing on Hsaw a lot, and so far there's nothing about Yodo and Eri's abilities, but I'm getting to them. I want to build them up one at a time, and Hsaw happens to be my favorite of the three._

_Alright, I need sleep… I only got three hours of sleep last night and I'm about to pass out. Leave me a review and let me know what you think!_


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